Public Relations Director jobs in Decatur, AL

Summary:

The Director of Marketing and Public Relations is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of various publicity efforts, working with other campus units to ensure that the brand image remains consistent and positive while expanding it to a wider audience.

For effectiveness in this position, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations must possess significant experience in executing internal and external communication strategies. The Director will be responsible for managing messaging activities and building relationships with various AAMU stakeholders. The preferred candidate has experience working within the setting of a powerhouse historically black college or university, preferably steeped in the 1890 land-grant tradition. The individual must have a passion for storytelling and the fortitude to advance the AAMU mission in both high-resource and limited budget conditions. The top candidate must also be a leader able to motivate and inspire professional staff through the peaks and valleys of a fast-pace, competitive higher education landscape.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Serves as an official representative and spokesperson for the University;
• Supervises the daily operations of the PR office by ensuring staff are knowledgeable of responsibilities and execute said duties independently;
• Prepares news releases, articles, essays, opinion pieces, and other written content to AP style standards;
• Establishes key metrics for success across marketing, social media, and media relations activities;
• Effectively delegates tasks, and leads PR staff according to their respective competencies; measuring progress; regularly reporting growth across key metrics;
• Responds to crisis and mission-critical situations in real-time - as they happen - to include nights, weekends or holidays;
• Providing crisis communications and statements on behalf of the University following input from the Vice President and Assistant Vice President, and assists in the coordination of interviews and press conferences;
• Collaborates and brainstorms with the Marketing, Communications and Advancement leadership on new campaigns, communication efforts, publications and other endeavors as needed;
• Works to develop and continue relationships with media organizations and key influencers, utilizing consistent communication and adequate subject-matter-expert referrals; coordination of interviews with students, faculty and staff to communicate campus news;
• Collaborates with the Assistant Vice President to ensure brand consistency in all marketing content;
• Delivers consistent internal communications that offer a sense of reliability to students, faculty, staff and administrators;
• Remains knowledgeable of software and technologies to enhance on-campus messaging through emerging and traditional platforms;
• Proficient in Adobe Suite software;
• Ability to provide fill-in support to supervised areas in the event of coverage needs that exceed staff capacity (i.e. photography, social media, media avails)
• Assistance in the approval of licensing requests from official Learfield Licensing Partners clients.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Position Requirements (including certifications, licenses, etc.):

• Degree in journalism, English, marketing, communications or relevant field
• Seven (7) plus years of experience supervising and managing a public relations team
• Experience in securing sustained local and national earned media coverage
• Experience in managing paid social media campaigns, formulating multi-platform social media strategy, and developing social media content calendars
• Influential leadership and team building capabilities
• Creative thinking with an affinity for innovation and problem-solving
• Exemplary oral and especially written communication skills
• Experience developing and maintaining productive relationships with media
• Ability to use web and marketing analytics and data to drive strategy

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of public relations functions as they pertain to the institution.
• Knowledge of basic journalism principles, including AP style; and marketing techniques.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Knowledge of public relations, communication principles, media, direct mail, and marketing techniques.
• Knowledge of publishing procedures and requirements, including desktop publishing.
• Ability to plan, organize, and coordinate media activities and promotional events.
• Ability to create, compose, and edit written materials.

Work Environment:

• Job often entails after-hour, lunch-hour, and weekend and holiday work commitments.

SALARY:

The salary for each position is based on the grade/tier in which the position is placed, and the salary within the grade/tier is based on the number of years of related experience or number of years in the hiring rank.

CLOSING DATE: Open Until Filled

Alabama A&M University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Alabama A&M University encourages applications for employment from persons who are members of groups that have been underrepresented based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability.